The walls were iridescent, reminding me of the inside of clam shells, and there were two windows: one facing the shore in front, and one facing the lake to the back. Both windows opened outward, with no screen. Kasper pointed out that it seemed dangerous, but Bayle assured us there’d never been any accidents and only three suicides over the past century.

A bed curved along the wall, covered in soft blankets and plush pillows. To one side of the room was what appeared to be a large white armoire, but when Bayle showed us the inside, it contained a small toilet and pedestal sink.

Across from it was a desk made of marble, also built to curve right against the wall. Ornate designs were carved into the legs and edges, and rising from the desk was a tall bookcase, lined with all kinds of books ranging from tomes dating back hundreds of years to the latest novel by George R. R. Martin. It was a small yet varied library.

This room was a self-contained little unit meant to house the tower guards.

“So this is how you keep the palace hidden?” I asked, admiring the room around me.

Bayle nodded. “We used to have a guard in each of the five towers, but with the cloaking abilities dwindling, we don’t want to run the risk of burning out the guards we have, so we only have three on duty at all times. Since this is the tallest tower, it’s the least used.”

That made sense. If I had the choice of walking up several hundred stairs instead of a thousand to go to work, I would gladly choose the smaller tower. But Bayle had wanted to show us the full breadth of the kingdom, and we weren’t disturbing anyone by checking out this one.

The tower guards were more like trackers than they were like the Högdragen. The Skojare might not have had changelings, but like trackers, the tower guards had special abilities that were specifically nurtured in their bloodlines.

Most of the Skojare lacked psychokinesis. Like all the tribes, our abilities had begun to wane over time. The royalty tended to blame this on diluting bloodlines. I suspected there was truth to that, but I also wondered if declining use and losing touch with our heritage impacted it.

Regardless, there were still some Skojare who possessed the ability of cloaking. They couldn’t make themselves invisible, only objects and places. The power didn’t seem to work as well on trolls as it did on humans, meaning a troll could see their tricks while a human would be fooled into seeing nothing.

But that was really who they needed it for. It was how they kept humans from spotting their massive palace on the lake, and it was how they kept Lake Isolera hidden.

Unlike the palace, though, which required upkeep from tower guards, Lake Isolera had been placed under a spell long ago by one of the first Skojare queens. Her power had to have been incredibly strong, since her enchantment was the only thing that kept it cloaked. Eventually, the spell would fade, and Isolera would become an ordinary lake in the Canadian wilderness.

From what I understood, the tower guards would sit in the room and project the idea of a force field—thinking of an invisible wall that would hide everything behind it, and pushing out with their mind the way I would push against a boulder with my hands. It was a very taxing job, one that could burn people out quickly, so the guards worked in shifts and took frequent breaks lying down or reading a book.

It was necessary work, if the Skojare didn’t want to be discovered by humans, and I couldn’t imagine that discovery would go for well them.

“Since this tower isn’t used for anything else, you could have two guards up here, watching the perimeter for enemies,” Kasper said, motioning to the windows on either sides of the room. “I know the tower guards are too busy to be able to do that, but regular guards would work.”

“We could, but that seems unnecessary,” Bayle said. “The tower guards are protecting us from outsiders.”

“What about Konstantin Black?” I asked, and he stiffened.

Bayle cleared his throat. “He was an exception, and I doubt he’ll be coming back.”

“You can say that, and you may be right,” I allowed. “But do you know why he was here? How he got in? What he was hoping to achieve? Or why he warned the Queen to get out?”

“Of course not,” Bayle replied icily. “We don’t know that any better than you do.”

“Then how can you possibly know that he or someone else like him won’t strike again?” I asked.

Bayle inhaled sharply through his nose. “I suppose I don’t.” Then he lowered his dark blue eyes to gaze at me. “But from what I gather, Konstantin Black is Kanin, and he was your problem first. Whatever he was doing here, it was your people that brought him upon us, and it was you who lost him.”

“I wouldn’t have lost him if you’d been doing your job!” I snapped. “If you had even a halfway decent guard set up, he never would’ve gotten inside the palace in the first place.”

“I work with the guard that I am given!” Bayle shouted. “You think I wouldn’t want a guard as well trained and dedicated as the Högdragen? Of course I would! But that’s not what King Rune designed.”

King Rune was Mikko and Kennet’s father, who had apparently decided to tie the purse strings much tighter than they needed to be.

“King Mikko refuses to undo his father’s changes, which means we have no money, no training, nothing for any of that,” Bayle continued in frustration.

“And that’s why we’re here!” Kasper spoke loudly in order to be heard, but there was no anger in his voice. He stepped between Bayle and me, holding his hands palm out toward each of us. “We’re here to help, and to make sure that somebody like Konstantin Black can never get in here again. We’re on the same page here.”